Chikwawa Council hailed for beating revenue targets

 National Local Government Finance Committee senior budget analyst Patricia Banda has commended Chikwawa District Council for exceeding its local revenue collection target.

She said this during a budget review session in Blantyre on Tuesday where the council presented its 2024/25 budget to the committee.

“It is rare for councils to meet and surpass their targets, so what the council has achieved is not easy,” said Banda.

She made these comments following a presentation by the council’s director of finance Steven Kanyerere, who highlighted that the council collected K251 million, surpassing their set target of K172 million.

He said this locally generated revenue will contribute to improving sanitation in the district.

“We will rehabilitate our market infrastructure, including toilets to ensure a conducive environment for operating businesses,” said Kanyerere.

He further said government has committed to supporting the Climate-Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme with K4 billion in the next financial year.

“In addition, we will receive support through Governance to Enable Service Delivery and there is an improvement in the figure that the government is committing next financial year across all sectors, which I believe will enhance service delivery to the people of Chikwawa,” said Kanyerere.

Chikwawa district commissioner Nardin Kamba thanked the committee for its support and input during the budget review.

“I would also like to thank our staff members for their dedication in coming up with this budget and together we will ensure that all the comments from the experts are incorporated into our final budget,” he said.

The committee’s scalable mechanism coordinator Mulder Mkutumula commended the council for introducing electronic payment system in Climate-Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme activities.

“We can rate the budget at 92 percent. Once the new elements are introduced, it will be perfect,” he said